


First Lesson: It's a Wayhaught Life

by Haughtmess94



Category: Wynonna Earp - Fandom
Genre: F/F, Nicole - Freeform, Purgatory, Sheriff Haught - Freeform, Shorty's, Teacher Waverly, Waverly, Wayhaught - Freeform, wynonna earp - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:14:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29353290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haughtmess94/pseuds/Haughtmess94
Summary: Waverly meets the new Sheriff
Relationships: WayHaught, WynDoc
Comments: 10
Kudos: 151





	1. Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing a Wayhaught storyline, but i'm gonna do my best to post a new chapter every week.

It was Monday morning and about -15 outside, however the sun was beaming down on Purgatory, casting an orange glow through the windows of the homestead. Waverly Earp was excited for her first day at work, teaching second grade at Purgatory junior school. She had only been teaching for a year but had already become the most well-liked by all the students. With her mousy brown hair for days, sparkling green eyes and infectious smile, along with her bubbly personality, it wasn’t hard to see why she was so popular. Aside from teaching, her favourite hobby was learning about history and ancient languages, she almost always had her head inside a book and when she could, would tell her students tales of old-timey warriors and Greek goddesses. 

Waverly prepared everything she needed for the day, she was well known for being a planner, before guzzling down a green tea before heading to her red pickup. Today was going to be busy as it was the first day of term and Purgatory junior had organised for the new sheriff in town to do a talk for every class in second grade. Waverly had not met the new sheriff yet, but had heard from her sister, Wynonna, that the officer was a female. As Waverly drove to work, she wondered if Wynonna had known of the sheriff’s presence because she bartends at the only bar in Purgatory, Shorty’s, a regular drinking spot for the police department or because her sister was once again in trouble with the law. Either way, she was pleased there was a female officer in their small town, it was about time it became more diverse, and this woman might be able to finally make some well needed changes. 

The morning at Purgatory junior had sailed by smoothly and Waverly was happy that even though it was the first day of term, there had been no problems yet. It was her classes turn to receive their talk from the sheriff after the lunch break and Waverly was looking forward to having a new face in the classroom and to take a step back from talking. She was just about to tuck into her homemade vegan wrap, when in walked the most beautiful woman she had ever laid eyes on.  
Nicole Haught had moved to Purgatory a week and a half ago after being offered a transfer from the Edmonton team, she had heard rumours from her colleagues that Sheriff Nedley’s position was up for grabs and she has always been a sucker for a challenge and it was only a small town right, what sort of crazy shenanigans could possibly go down there? Well, she discovered the chaos that ensued in Purgatory within only a few hours of moving there and realised she was in for a tough ride, but the bar fights and biker gangs stirring up trouble at the trailer park would certainly keep her occupied, not to mention the local nutcase/bartender Wynonna Earp constantly bringing her drama everywhere she goes. 

Officer Haught would be lying if she said that when she heard one of her tasks as the new sheriff would be giving a talk about what it’s like working in the police department to a bunch of 7–8-year-olds, it wasn’t exactly what she had signed up for, alas, that was all part of the job. On her first day in Purgatory, Nedley had briefed her on the goings on in the town, where to eat and drink, who to befriend and who to avoid, Wynonna Earp being one of many on that list. So, Nicole was surprised when as soon as she walked into the staffroom at Purgatory junior, she heard 

“Hey, I’m Miss Earp, but I guess you can call me, Waverly. You must be the new sheriff right; I mean judging by the uniform?” Nicole Haught was donning the navy blue shirt and trousers, accompanied by her utility belt and Stetson. 

Waverly internally cursed herself for sounding so nervous and asking such a stupid question, but she had never seen such a gorgeous human in her entire 23 years of existence, the ginger hair tied up in a neat braid reminded her of the orange hue of the sky at sunrise, eyes the colour of mahogany and the most perfect lips just sent her into a frenzy. In fact, she spent that long looking at her features that it took her a hot minute to realise that the sheriff had responded  
“I’m so sorry, I just zoned out for a second, what did you say?” Waverly blushed, this was severely embarrassing, nobody had made her act this way.

Nicole chuckled, dimples on full show, “It’s okay, I’m Nicole, Nicole Haught. Did you say Earp, as in Wynonna?”

Oh gosh, Waverly thought, what has her good for nothing sister done this time,  
“Yes, unfortunately she’s my older sister, I won’t even ask how you know of her, because she has one hell of a reputation around here” she said as she shook her head, 

“You can say that again, I’ve only been here just under a fortnight and I’ve heard her name mentioned more than anyone else’s”.

Waverly felt the need to apologise for her sister’s behaviour without even knowing what she’d done because she was just a constant liability in her life and now, she was feeling a little humiliated in front of an officer of the law, something that Waverly had great respect for. 

“So, you’re a teacher, eh? What made you get into this profession? If you don’t mind me asking” sheriff Haught asked, finding herself genuinely interested in Miss Earp’s life as she seemed so different to her sibling Wynonna. Waverly sat back in her chair and smiled her signature smile.

“Well I’ve always been really good with kids and I love learning new things and knowing how exciting it is to learn I thought I’d be able to bring an enthusiasm to teaching that the children might enjoy, plus I get access to the library whenever I want…wow, that sounded totally sad” she knew she sounded like an absolute nerd right now and she could feel her cheeks burning up, but she just gets excited when she’s talking about something she’s passionate about.

Nicole could tell by Waverly’s facial expression and body language that she was being sincere but that she was also feeling slightly flustered. 

“Well, it sounds like you’re a perfect fit in this job, I can already tell that the kids love you and I haven’t even seen you in action yet. I’m gonna grab something to eat before my talk starts so I’ll see you shortly, Miss Earp” Nicole was confident in herself to throw Waverly a wink to add to that compliment. 

It was safe to say that if Waverly’s cheeks were turning pink before, they were now an embarrassing shade of red…


	2. Stay in school

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sheriff Haught gives a talk to the class

The bell rang at 1pm and it was time for Nicole to recite the same speech she’d been giving all morning, although this one seemed a little different, a little less rehearsed, almost as if she was really aware of what she was saying and she couldn’t tell if it was because of the earlier conversation she had had with Waverly, which had inspired Nicole to really care about the job she had taken on or because she had become hyper-aware that Waverly was staring at her as she talked. 

“When I was younger, I loved the outdoors, I spent most of my childhood climbing and swinging from tree’s, setting my tent up in the garden and pretending I was out in the forest. My parents used to yell at me all the time because I didn’t want to be inside or sleep in my own bed, they had to bribe me with things just to get me to do my homework. I had become that obsessed with nature that I decided when I grew up I wanted to be an explorer. But as I got older I saw more and more awful things happening around me, and I realised that in order for these awful things to disappear, someone had to stop it and that someone could be me. My dreams and career path became more realistic and I ended up enrolling into the police academy…”

With that Sheriff Haught’s story was interrupted as a young boys hand shot up and miss Earp politely stated “No questions until the end Tommy” with a smile. 

“It’s okay miss Earp, fire away kid”

“Do you get to go on cool car chases and shoot bad guys?” this question caused the majority of the class to burst into laughter, including the sheriff. 

“No, that very rarely happens actually!” it was at this point that the redhead realised that none of the students actually cared about how she had become a cop and all the other boring stuff.

“So, who would like to take a look at my utility belt?” almost every hand in the room was immediately in the air, Sheriff Haught raised her eyebrow with a smirk and gave Waverly a look asking for approval, to which Waverly folded her arms, shook her head and shouted, “Okay then, but remember safety first!”.

All the children gathered around a table in the middle of the room as Sheriff Haught explained the purpose of the handcuffs and how to properly use them, although all of the boys were too busy staring at the gun in the holster, “Don’t worry Miss Earp, I know what I’m doing with all of this equipment, the gun has the safety on and its empty of bullets” Nicole stated before Waverly could even get mad. 

“Good. The last thing I need is an injured child on the first day back” Waverly quipped with a slight giggle, as she did this she noticed that one child, Daisy, hadn’t felt like partaking with the crowd of classmates and instead was still sat at her desk staring out of the window in a daydream “Excuse me Officer Haught, I won’t be a moment”. Waverly walked over to the young girl, bent down, and placed her hands on the desk, “Daisy sweetheart, are you okay?” 

When Waverly received no response from her student, she instantly started to worry. The teacher had noticed Daisy over the year that she had been working here, alone in the playground and the corridors, but this was the first day of her being in her class and something just seemed, off, her hair was scraped back in a messy pony and the clothes she was wearing looked like they were two sizes too big. Waverly made a mental note to keep a close eye on this girl over the coming weeks. 

“Daisy, would you like to join in with your friends?” Miss Earp asked in a sincere tone, with a warm smile that made the child feel safe in her teacher’s presence. Daisy, who had long mousy brown hair like Waverly’s, looked down at the table, hands tucked in between her legs, quickly shook her head. 

As if Waverly completely understood this misunderstood child, she replied “Okay, that’s okay. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Would you like me to sit here with you?”. Just as the young girl was about to reply, the school bell sounded to inform everyone that it was the end of class. 

Waverly got to her feet, clapped her hands together and shouted “Wow is that the time already?! Alright kids, well I hope you enjoyed learning something different this lesson, can we all say thank you and give a round of applause to Sheriff Haught for coming in to speak to you today”. The children put their hands together for the sheriff and said “thank you officer Haught” in unison. Waverly looked around the room and discovered that Daisy had gone back to staring out of the window. She was brought out of her concern by the ginger cop addressing her, “Thank you for having me today, this was the first talk out of the whole day I actually enjoyed giving”

“Oh it’s me that should be thanking you, Sheriff Haught, I think the children really loved having someone different teaching them something, it was nice to have a new face in the classroom” Waverly said as Nicole continued to gather her things. 

“Well, it’s been my pleasure. In fact, I’d love to know more about this town and what goes on, I’m going to need as much information as possible if I’m going to proceed as sheriff of Purgatory. How would you feel about meeting one evening or this weekend for a coffee? You don’t have to say yes, but just in case here’s my card. It’s got my personal number on there too, call me anytime” Nicole was already heading for the door when she turned back around and placed her Stetson on top of her beautiful auburn braid “I mean it” she reinforced with her toothy smile, dimples making an appearance. 

As Nicole made her exit, Waverly looked down at the card the sheriff had left on her desk. Waverly picked up the card, “Of course her looks and personality had to replicate her surname” she said under her breath as she rolled her eyes. 

Later that evening, Waverly was sat at the kitchen table doing some marking from todays lessons when the eldest of the Earp sisters stumbled in the front door of the homestead. 

“Heeeeey baby girl, how was your first day back at hell?” Wynonna snorted to herself, genuinely amused at her comment as she kicked off her boots, pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and sat down next to her sister. 

“Have you been drinking Shorty’s dry again?!” the question almost rhetorical as Waverly already knew the answer, she put down her pen and folded her arms. 

“Nooo. Okay maybe I have, a little bit, but I have to put up with Purgatory’s finest morons all day every day, what do you expect a girl to do?” Wynonna pursed her lips together and shrugged her shoulders in innocence. “Anyway, you didn’t answer my question…”.

“It was great, thanks for asking. Actually, we had the new sheriff come in today to give the kids a talk and introduce herself, she seems nice” Waverly replied with a bit of hesitation in her voice. 

“Oh so you’ve finally met Haught-stuff then! The woman gives me weird vibes and I don’t like it”

“Yes, from what I hear you’ve already had a few run ins with her yourself” Waverly gave her sibling a stern look of disapproval. “She’s only just started Wynonna, go easy on her, please” 

“Wow sis, have you got the haughts for her or something?” Wynonna hinted wiggling her eyebrows. 

“WHAT, no of course I don’t. That would be ridiculous” Waverly retorted with a nervous laugh which she thought might have been believable but clearly wasn’t, well not to anyone other than Wynonna who was completely oblivious to anything going on around her 90% of the time. Luckily that was the one instance Waverly was glad her older sister hadn’t picked up on the sheer panic in her voice. “She did ask if I could give her a better tour of the town sometime and gave me her number though” Waverly could feel her cheeks burning up again ‘face don’t deceive me now please, the last thing I need is a million questions from Wynonna’ she internally scolded to herself. 

Wynonna’s interest suddenly peaked, “OHMYGOSH she so totally wants to get in your pants! You should call her”

“Okay, now you’re just jumping to bonkers conclusions, not everything is about sex you know, she just wants someone to tell her more about this place and I know my facts”. Waverly convinced herself that what her crazy sister had just said was exactly that, crazy. 

“Yes, we get it. You’re a nerd! But you should definitely take her up on that offer.”

“You know what, I just might.” With this Waverly stacked up her paperwork and other belongings and put them in a neat pile, which Wynonna would inevitably mess up later, grabbed her phone off the table and headed up the stairs.

She pulled out the card from the back pocket of her tight fitted jeans and hastily dialled the number on the screen. The device rang three times and Waverly thought about hanging up but before she could go through with it, she heard “This is Sheriff Haught…”

It was too late now, Waverly had to gather her confidence to respond…


	3. Coffee 'date'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waverly and Nicole meet for coffee.

“Hey Nicole, its Waverly. Sorry, is this a good time? I’ve just realised you’re probably still at work”

“Oh hey, I wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soon. No, you caught me at the right time, I just got off. What can I do for you, **Miss** Earp?” the officer said with emphasis. Nicole hoped that her flirty tone didn’t come off creepy, however, she did hope that it would leave the brunette a little stunned.

Waverly knew it was way too early to call the Sheriff and now she seemed a bit eager, but there sounded like a hint of flirtation in Nicole’s voice and two can play that game, she concluded.

“Please, call me Waverly. I’d like to take you up on that coffee offer. You can buy in exchange for my extensive knowledge of the town.” 

“So, you know your stuff, eh? Well, that exchange seems only fair. I’ve got the day off tomorrow if you’re free in the evening?”

“Tomorrow works for me!” Waverly replied a bit too ambitiously. “Meet me outside Shorty’s at 6:30?”

“Sounds great! See you then, Waverly.” She made sure to say her name this time, but then hung up before Waverly had the chance to say goodbye.

‘Fuck’ Nicole thought. As much as she did genuinely want to know a little more about Purgatory, as it was imperative for her job, according to the former Sheriff, she had to admit that she was more excited about the company. She tried not to dwell on it too much as she had a busy day ahead of her ‘meeting’ tomorrow. 

Next day

Nicole had spent the day trying to organise her apartment, it was a complete mess since her move and she still had a handful of boxes to unpack. Her cat, Calamity Jane, who’s fur was as ginger and wild as Nicole’s was right now after a long day of moving furniture around, stared up at her owner and meowed in a desperate attempt to get some attention.  
“I know, you want some lovin’, but Momma’s gotta get this finished before she gets ready, okay?” she acknowledged her pet as if Calamity Jane could understand perfectly well what she had said. The ginger furball just casually strutted away in response.

It was 4:45 and Nicole had one box left to unpack, she didn’t want to be in a mad rush and leave Waverly waiting, that would not be a good start as someone who was supposed to gain people's trust and respect. 

The Sheriff managed to get everything in the apartment sorted in the next half an hour, leaving her an ample amount of time to get ready. This was the first time Waverly would see her out of uniform and she wanted to make a somewhat good impression, not that this was a date or anything, Nicole justified to herself. She decided to go for jeans and a casual burgundy jumper, as it was pretty cold out. When she wasn’t at work, Nicole liked to have her hair down, she hated having it restrained in a tight braid. In fact, she’d actually considered cutting it so that she wouldn’t have to worry about keeping it out of her face anymore, but that was something she could worry about another day. After applying light make-up she was ready.

Nicole made her way downstairs, remembered to feed Calamity Jane, before the four-legged creature felt she’d been neglected enough that day, put on her boots and puffer jacket and headed out the front door. 

Nicole arrived at Shorty’s at 6:25 to find Waverly already standing at the entrance to the bar. 

“Hey, you’re early”

“I’m a planner, I like to be prompt for things” Waverly retorted, hands in the pockets of her full-length winter coat. She looked like she was freezing already.

“Well that’s good to know. Let’s go get coffee, before you freeze to death!”

They entered Shorty’s and it was a welcome relief from the cold. Unfortunately for Waverly, the oldest Earp sister was working tonight, which meant she would be internally wincing every time Wynonna opened her mouth in the hopes she wouldn’t say something totally disgusting. The last thing Waverly needed right now was to be embarrassed in front of Nicole. 

“What up Baby sis, nice to see you step foot in my place of work, you’ve usually got your head stuck in some lame book! And I see you brought Sheriff Haught to trot with you” Wynonna raised her eyebrow with a questioning look.

“Aw Wynonna, you made a funny, well done.” The youngest of the two siblings rested her elbows on top of the bar, tilted her head and squinted her eyes in mock sarcasm. “Yeah, we’re heading out in a minute, but first Sheriff Haught here promised me coffee.” Waverly said with her thumb pointed towards the redhead. 

“Hi Wynonna, can I get a cappuccino to go?” Nicole looked in Waverly’s direction as if to ask her what she would like to drink.

“Can I get a latte with al-" before she could even finish her sentence, Wynonna interrupted.

“Almond milk, yeah I got it. So, my baby sis is gonna show you around and no doubt bore you with facts about Purgatory is she?”

“God, I hope so” Nicole replied, realising how dumb that sounded, looked to see if the Earp girls had noticed... they had.

“Wynonna could you just shut your trap for like 5 seconds and give us our drinks already?” Waverly desperately wanted to get out of this situation in which her sister couldn’t not say anything embarrassing. 

“Okay, here you go. Have fun ya big dorks!” with this Wynonna shot her sister a wink before Waverly had chance to turn around and leave. 

Once Nicole and Waverly had made it outside and the drinks were more of an accessory to keep their hands warm as it was to drink, Waverly had to state “I’m so sorry about her, she has such a sass-mouth sometimes!”

Nicole found this comment amusing, “Don’t worry about it. I’m a Sheriff, I’ve dealt with far worse than your sister”. 

This provided some reassurance for Waverly, who now understood that Nicole is cop for goodness sake, she could defend herself and she liked that about her.

“Okay, so what would you like to know?” Waverly asked in the sweetest tone Nicole had heard come out of the youngest Earp’s mouth. “Shorty’s was established in 1848 and has outlived every bar in town, it’s a very popular place despite my annoying sister working there. The basement at Shorty’s has been declared consecrated ground. There’s quite a few hot spots around Purgatory actually, including the school and the Police station. So, it seems were both blessed with potential spooky encounters.”

“Wow! You really do know your stuff, Waves. I’m impressed.” Nicole looked at Waverly in amazement. Waverly looked back, observing the fact that Nicole just gave her a cute nickname.

“I’m a really big fan of history and ancient cultures. I have been since I was a little girl. The past has always been fascinating to me, its like a form of escapism from the present, you know. I can also speak 4 languages. That’s kind of what got me into teaching” Waverly stated, impressed with herself and her accomplishments. 

“Well Miss Earp, now you’re just putting me to shame, I can barely speak English, let alone 3 other languages.” 

They strolled along the main street in Purgatory as they talked. It was that cold both girls could see their breath in front of them, but they were enjoying the conversation and each other’s presence so much that neither of them minded the bitterness in the air. 

“I’m sure you’ve achieved a lot in life that I could only dream of Nicole. Don’t put yourself down! Speaking of, what made you move to Purgatory?” Waverly had spent most of their time together talking about herself and she decided it was time to get to know the beautiful redhead better. 

“Where to start… I’m originally from Edmonton. I was just a regular officer, obviously it’s a completely different ball game there. I was working with a lot of hot -shot cops and many of us were competing for the deputy Sheriff title. I had graduated top of my class at the academy which stood me in good stead, but I was kind of sick of being in the big city, I wanted a change of pace. Then we got word of the Sheriff position opening down here in Purgatory and I thought this could be a great opportunity to prove myself as a cop and live a slightly quieter life. Sheriff Nedley and my superior back in Edmonton saw my potential and the rest is, wait for it, history. See how I just brought it back to you?” the redhead quipped with a smirk. 

Nicole spoke with so much self confidence when it came to her job that Waverly was in awe. 

Waverly looked at Nicole with a twinkle in her eye. “Well, I for one am very glad to have you around here. I think you’re going to make some real changes and I’m a pretty good judge of character” the brunette said proud as punch. 

“I’m glad you think so! It’s nice to have someone’s vote of confidence. Just make sure you don’t get yourself in trouble, eh.” Nicole nudged Waverly with her shoulder in a jokey manner. 

“Me?!” Waverly said in mock horror. “You don’t have to worry about that Officer Haught. I’m an angel.” She winked at the older woman. 

Both women smiled at each other. “I have to say Waverly, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with you. I’m very happy you called and although we didn’t actually talk much about the town, I was secretly wanting to get to know you better than anything else.” 

“Really?” Waverly was genuinely shocked by that statement. “I mean as much as I was prepared to spill all my juicy research, it’s been very fun just casually chatting with you too.” 

The girls headed back in the same direction they started out at, both now willing to accept that it was far too cold to be spontaneously walking around. 

“I will get all of that juicy research out of you someday, Waves” there it was again, that nickname. It was apparently starting to stick with both Nicole and Waverly. 

“For some reason, I don’t doubt that for a second” Waverly replied with a side eye. “Well, I’m going to get back to Shorty’s, Wynonna’s shift will be ending soon and I wanna drag her leather-panted butt back to the homestead before she clears the bar of all of its contents! I’ve enjoyed tonight, Nicole” she said with a tender smile. The tip of her nose had now turned red from the crisp air. 

“Me too. Don’t be a stranger okay? You have my number now after all so no excuses” With this Nicole gently brushed her hand up and down Waverly’s arm. “See you around, cutie!” 

Once again, Nicole had been the one to walk away from Waverly and for the third time in two days Waverly had been left a flustered mess from the smallest comment and piece of affection. This was not okay. 

Waverly stood outside the entrance of Shorty’s for a second to process what just happened before she did a 180 and flung open the main doors of the bar. 

“BABYGIRL! How’d your date go?” Wynonna shouted from a stool at the opposite end of the bar to where she should be. 

“Doc, what the fudge?!” Waverly frustratedly asked with her arms up in the air. 

Doc Holliday stood there; cowboy clad in an outfit which was complimented with his signature hat. “She finished her shift early, she’s only consumed 2 whiskeys, don’t worry lil darlin’, I’ll drive her home.” He said this, also with a whiskey in his hand. 

“I don’t think you will Mr! Doc, you are her boyfriend, you’re supposed to look after her when I’m not here. Come on, I’m taking you **both** home.” Waverly gave them a look of disappointment. She swears half the time she was the oldest out of the two of them, and Doc was just as irresponsible as her sister. 

“Hey, don’t talk about me as if I’m not here!” Wynonna wasn’t drunk, but she was heading that way and her wild side was starting to show. “And you just avoided my question AGAIN!” 

Waverly pushed them both out of the exit and towards her car in the carpark, “How about I tell you once we’re home and you’re sober?” 

**“Deal!”**


	4. Discoveries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waverly has a lot to think about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy belated Valentines Day! This is quite an intense chapter but it clears a few things up and also leads us to more Wayhaught which I know you're all dying for. It's coming, i promise!

Waverly managed to get Wynonna and Doc back to the homestead in one piece after Wynonna practically moaned the entire drive that she wanted nachos. As soon as Wynonna entered the family home, she immediately slumped onto the sofa face first.

“NACHOOOOO’S, I WANT NACHO’S!”

“If I make you some nacho’s will you finally shut your pie-hole?” Waverly said in annoyance. 

“Maybe, but only if you tell me about you and ginger spice” Wynonna gathered the strength to lift her head from the sofa to catch her sister’s reaction to the comment. 

Waverly huffed, whilst getting tortilla chips from the cupboard. “First of all, there is no me and Nicole. Secondly, I said I’d tell you, didn’t I? Give me a chance to actually get my foot in the door and tend to your needs first…”

“Well, you better hurry cause I’m about two boring sentences away from passing out”

10 minutes later, Waverly placed a bowl of nachos on the table in front of Wynonna, who had surprisingly managed to keep herself awake. 

“There, happy now?” Waverly sat down next to her sister and pulled a blanket over the both of them. 

“Mhmmmm” Wynonna replied with a mouthful of cheesy guacamole’d tortilla chips. 

“Okay so we just walked and briefly talked about some of the buildings around to-“

“BORING! This story better get more interesting cause it’s already a snoozefest”

“I’m getting there, jeeeez” Waverly shook her head, she had never met anyone as impatient as her older sister. “So, then we talked about how she became the sheriff of Purgatory and then we kinda just talked about nothing really. She told me not to be a stranger and then called me cutie”

Wynonna was far too distracted with her nachos to notice Waverly smiling to herself thinking about the compliment Nicole had given her. 

“Woooooah, she called you cutie” Wynonna said in a sarcastic shocked tone. “Just when I thought Haught was another lame cop. She definitely likes you Waves. Way to go!” Wynonna lifted her hand in the air waiting for the high five she was never going to get.

“Wynonna, I don’t even like girls. Well, I don’t think I do anyway” Waverly looked like she was in deep thought, this really hadn’t been something she had considered before and now she was slightly baffled. “Right, I have to be up early for work tomorrow so I’m heading to bed. Please don’t sleep on the sofa again for the second night in a row!” Waverly remarked as she made her way towards the stairs. 

“Yeah, whatever you say sis, goodnight”. 

**Next day**

Waverly came downstairs the next morning to unsurprisingly find Wynonna fast asleep on the sofa. “Figures, what is the point in her even having a bedroom” the brunette mumbled to herself quietly so that she wouldn’t wake her sister, lord knows Wynonna is mega cranky if she is woken and that was the last thing Waverly needed right now. This meant she had to tiptoe around the house to perform her morning routine before work, which was a real pain in the ass. 

The first few hours in class had passed in the blink of an eye and it was time for lunch. Normally Waverly brought her own dinner as the school canteen offered limited vegan options, but with her having to doing everything as quietly as possible this morning, that meant preparing dinner was out of the question. 

She headed down to the canteen and got in line. As she patiently stood there among other colleagues and students, she aimlessly looked around the hall and discovered her student Daisy, sat alone at a table with nothing to eat. Waverly added what she had noticed to her list of things that were seeming to be concerning. As she reached the front of the queue, she grabbed the first thing she saw that was vegan off the shelf and also picked up a sandwich and a juice box for Daisy. 

Waverly made her way over to the table where the young girl was sat. “Hi sweetie, did you not want to wait in the long queue? I got an extra sandwich if you’d like it?” Waverly raised the sandwich in the air as if to indicate the food was for someone else. Daisy nodded her head in embarrassment. Waverly took this as her cue to sit opposite her student and handed her the food and juice box. Daisy ripped open the sandwich from its container and immediately took a huge bite. It suddenly dawned on the teacher that this is probably the first meal the girl had eaten today, and this worried the youngest Earp. 

“Thank you.” Daisy said after swallowing down another bite of food. “my mum forgot to give me money for dinner today.” This was the first time the girl had allowed herself to speak directly to Miss Earp and Waverly was thankful that the young girl had decided to open up to her. 

“You’re welcome” Waverly gave Daisy a heartfelt smile “I’ll see you next period okay?”

“Yes Miss” Daisy lightly smiled back to her teacher. 

The last bell had just rung for the day and Waverly hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the incident at dinnertime. The youngest Earp decided it was best to hang back and try and catch the schools safeguarding officer. She walked down the corridor where the admin offices were until she reached a door that read ‘Mrs Anderson: Safeguarding Officer’, she knocked three times and waited to be invited inside. 

“Hey Julia, is now a good time?” Waverly politely asked

“Oh, Hi Waverly dear, yes, yes of course come on in.” Waverly took a seat across from the Officer's desk. “What can I do for you?”

“Well, I’m actually here with regards to raising some concerns I have with a child in my class, her name is Daisy. In the past I’ve noticed her drifting off, she’s an extremely smart girl, in fact her grades are better than every other child in the class, however, I always catch her alone outside of the classroom and today I witnessed her sitting on her own in the canteen with no food, when I went over to speak to her, she said her mum had forgotten to give her lunch money. She often comes into school looking like she’s rushed to get ready. I can’t be too sure, and I don’t want to make any bold assumptions, but I think there could be some issues with her home life.” Waverly said all of this in a calm tone and spoke truthfully of everything she had witnessed. Mrs Anderson listened carefully to everything Waverly had said and didn’t interrupt until she knew that Waverly had finished. 

“Thank you for bringing this to my attention Miss Earp. Even if you don’t feel 100% that something is wrong, it's best that you write down everything you see and hear from now on with timelines and keep reporting back to me. At least that way you will have handled this matter accordingly. If Daisy continues to come to school with no food or lunch money, this will become a serious case and we will have to bring in outside agencies.”

With this Waverly understood that this may be a bigger deal than she was previously led to believe and as a teacher it was her duty to not only educate her students but provide support in other forms and she desperately wanted to help Daisy. 

“I actually have the Sheriff’s number; would that be something they could get involved with?” She had never had to report anything like this before and was honestly unsure of how best to handle the situation and who she needed to involve, what she did know was that Nicole took her job very seriously and if she could trust anyone with this, it was her. It also gave her a reason to spend more time with the Sheriff. She hated to admit it but the redhead was occupying a lot of time in Waverly’s mind since their encounter last night. 

“Yes, a case like this definitely comes under their jurisdiction, especially with this being such a small town. Going forward we need to build up a casefile on the child and if you are needing anymore advice or support, I wouldn’t hesitate informing Sheriff Haught”. 

“Thank you, Julia, I really don’t want anyone to be suffering. School is hard enough as it is so the sooner we can rectify this situation, the better.” 

“Well, that’s what I’m here for! We are a team in this” Waverly stood up from the chair and headed towards the door of the office, as she reached for the handle the officer concluded, “I know you’re worried Waverly, but we are here for our students and we will do all we can to ensure their safety.” Mrs Anderson had provided Waverly with clarity and relief and that was all the brunette could hope for right now.

Waverly got herself home, did all the marking she needed to and ate a substantial meal before realising that Wynonna must be at work because the house was so quiet. She determined that this was a great opportunity to get in touch with Nicole without any snarky comments from her sister. 

Once again she dialled the Sheriff’s number, this time without any hesitation. 

“Waverly Earp, this is twice you’ve called me in a week. I must have left a good impression” Sheriff Haught just couldn’t resist the self-assured attitude around Waverly, now that they had formed a friendship. 

“Oh, there’s no doubt about that, but I actually wanted to speak to you about something private, teacher to cop. If that’s okay?” 

“Of course that’s okay, I’m still down at the precinct if you want to stop by? Since this is private, it’s probably best we talk here” Nicole’s tone had changed from cheeky to professional after hearing the seriousness in Waverly’s voice. 

“Great, I’ll be there in 10!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure a lot of you can tell where the story is heading, I don't know a great deal about this topic and am getting as much info as possible from friends etc without having to go into too much detail about what Daisy is going through. If anyone has any comments or anything they would like me to add to make this sound better please feel free to message me :)


	5. So you really like donuts, huh?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waverly makes a shocking discovery about Daisy, and turns to Nicole for 'advice'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was feeling inspired this week so i'm going to be generous and give you another chapter early. Enjoy!

Nicole had stayed calm during the phone call with Waverly as it was usually protocol with her job, but she was starting to worry about the youngest Earp. 

She continued filling out the stack of paperwork that was on her desk, when she heard Waverly enter the station.

“Hey Earp, what brings you here?” Nicole heard Deputy Sheriff Dolls ask the brunette. 

Nicole stepped out of her office and replied before Waverly could answer. “Its all good Dolls, I’ll take it from here, thank you” She waved the officer away. 

“Hey Waves, do you maybe wanna come into my office to chat?” Nicole flashed Waverly a smile that said, ‘I’m concerned but I’m also here for you’ and that reassured the smallest of the two.

Waverly followed Nicole into her office, and they sat side by side on the sofa in the corner of the room. Nicole tried to make Waverly feel as comfortable as possible and decided the sofa would seem a little less formal. 

“So, what’s going on?” Nicole asked

Waverly had her hands tangled together on top of her legs as she looked up at Nicole and explained the situation about her student. Like with the safeguarding officer it was imperative that Waverly said everything she had seen in full detail. Once the brunette had finished, Nicole placed her hands on top of Waverly's as a sign of support. 

“Okay, have you been noting down everything you have witnessed so far?” 

“No, I’m going to create a report tomorrow when I get back into work” Waverly replied.

Nicole got up from the sofa and walked over to her desk where she opened up a drawer and pulled out some forms. “I’m going to have to create a file of my own and everything you note down will have to be passed on to me, is that okay?”

Waverly nodded her head eagerly “Yes of course, anything to help Sheriff”

“I’m also going to keep my eye out on Daisy’s parents, look out for anything suspicious. Don’t worry Waves, no action will be taken as of yet, not until we have sufficient evidence.”

Sheriff Haught asked Waverly to sign a few forms to prove that she had agreed to pass this information onto the police department. 

“Thank you for this Nicole. The kids at my school are very important to me and I don’t want to see anything bad happen to them”

“And I can assure you it won’t, not if I have anything to do with it. Keep me posted and let me know if you need anything else okay?”

Waverly gave the redhead a delicate smile before she left the office, “Bye Dolls” Waverly said to the deputy.

“Later Earp, tell the other Earp and her wannabe cowboy boyfriend to stay out of trouble, yeah?”

“You got it, deputy!” she shouted back.

When Waverly returned back to the homestead, she was surprised to see Wynonna already there, sober, might she add, watching property brothers. 

“Hey sis, you’re home early. What’cha watching?” Waverly asked as she hung up her coat and removed her boots.

“Yeah it was a quiet night at Shorty’s so I left early. Proper bros, Doc’s got me hooked and god damn it, it's good! Where have you been, seeing red again by any chance?”

“Well not that it's any of your business, yes, I have. But not in the way you think. Anyway, I don’t want to get into it”

“Alright, don’t get your panties in a twist, it was just a question” Wynonna replied sticking her tongue out to her younger sister.

Waverly decided to prepare her dinner for tomorrow now, while Wynonna was still conscious just in case she fell asleep on the sofa AGAIN and had to repeat this morning’s fiasco. While she was cooking, she thought back to the scenario during the lunch break at school, for what felt like the millionth time today. She didn’t want to see Daisy with no food again and even though it wasn’t really her place, thought there would be no harm in making extra in the event that her worst nightmare became a reality. 

The next day at Purgatory junior, Waverly spent the morning before class taking down the necessary notes on Daisy, it wasn’t until later that day that Waverly’s nightmares came true. Normally when the teacher brought her own lunch, she would go straight to the staffroom to eat but today, she headed to the canteen to see if Daisy was there.  
Waverly caught her sitting at the same table as yesterday, shockingly empty handed. Waverly once again walked over to the table and wondered if her student was getting tired of being disturbed by her teacher, but another part of her told her that she was doing this for the benefit of Daisy and her well-being. 

“Hi Daisy” 

“Oh Hi Miss Earp” 

“Can I sit with you?” Waverly made sure to ask before taking a seat. 

“Sure” Daisy replied

Waverly pulled a container out of her bag which consisted of pesto pasta with mushrooms. 

“I made a bit too much pasta last night, would you like some?” Waverly would never reveal to Daisy that she purposely made too much because she didn’t want to humiliate the young girl.

“Is that okay?” Daisy asked with hesitance, she wasn’t used to this friendly behaviour. 

“Of course” Waverly scooped out half of the contents of the container onto a plate.

“My mum was still in bed this morning when I was leaving for school, so I didn’t get any lunch money again and I’m not very good at making anything” Daisy didn’t look Waverly in the eye when she said this, but the teacher understood it must be a difficult topic to talk about and was just happy that she’d been trusted enough with this information. 

“Hey, its not your fault Daisy. How about this, I’ll speak with someone in the canteen, see if they can make you something, if it happens again okay?”

“You’re my favourite teacher Miss Earp, thank you” Waverly received eye contact this time, and this proved to the brunette she had formed a bond with her student. 

“You’re welcome, I’ll see you in class!” 

Before leaving for the day, Waverly made sure to add to her notes that she had encountered the same issue twice in 2 days and wrote down word for word the conversation between her and Daisy. Waverly passed this on to Mrs Anderson, who heavily advised her to involve the police department, to which she informed her that she had already spoken to Sheriff Haught and that they were forming their own investigation. 

Everything Waverly had witnessed in the past 3 days had started to become very serious and it was taking it’s toll on her mentally and emotionally. She really needed to talk to someone about this, but with it being a safeguarding matter, her options were limited. However, she knew that there was one person in particular she could turn to, with it remaining in the boundaries of confidentiality. Besides Nicole did say to not be a stranger. 

Instead of calling the redhead for the THIRD time this week, she opted for a text. 

**Waverly 7:08** – Hey Nicole, are you free?  
**Nicole 7:10** – Hi Waves, yeah just finished my shift. Everything alright?  
**Waverly 7:10** – I just need someone to talk to, wanna grab donuts, or coffee or whatever?  
**Nicole 7:13** – You had me at donuts! I’ll meet you outside the station.  
**Waverly 7:14** – You’re a donut girl, I like it. Won’t be long

Waverly grabbed the keys to her truck and made it to the station in record time without breaking any laws. Nicole greeted the brunette in the car park with a tilt of her Stetson “lets go get our donut on!” the Sheriff exclaimed. In that moment Waverly knew that even though the Daisy situation was having a real effect on her, Nicole would be able to lighten the mood. 

With a box of the jelly filled delights in her hand Waverly announced, “So you really do like donuts huh?” she raised her eyebrow and gave Nicole a slight smirk. 

“I’m a cop, it comes with the job title” Nicole shrugged her shoulders as she shoved a vanilla dipped one in her mouth. “It is cold out though, is there any chance we can go somewhere warmer to eat these?”

Nicole was right, it wasn’t fair of Waverly to drag the redhead out in the cold just to eat donuts. 

“You make a very good point Sheriff. Wynonna is probably at Shorty’s so we could go to the homestead?”

“Question; why do you call it the homestead?” Nicole cocked her head to one side in confusion.

“Huh, I don’t actually have an answer to that” Waverly scrunched her eyebrows together and placed a finger on her chin in thought. “I guess it’s just a family saying that’s been passed down and it caught on. Anyways, are you coming or what? Cause I’ve got the box of goods” Waverly lightly shook the box with a grin on her face and started to run around the carpark. 

“Oh no you don’t Earp! Don’t think I’m not faster than you!” With Nicole’s extensive physical training she caught up to the youngest Earp within seconds and snatched the donuts from Waverly. 

“Damn it, that’s not fair” Waverly said with a pout and puppy-dog eyes.

“Sorry cutie, I don’t make the rules. Come on, let’s get to the infamous Homestead. I’ll follow you there”

They both got in their individual cars. Nicole tailing Waverly as it was unfamiliar territory for the Sheriff. 

Once the women had entered the homestead, Waverly told Nicole to get comfortable and offered her a drink. 

“Water would be great, thanks” Nicole took a seat on the sofa.

Waverly returned with a glass in one hand and the box of donuts in the other. Waverly lit the fire as the house was almost as chilly as outside and she didn’t want Nicole catching her death. 

“So, any developments at school today?” Nicole asked as she took a sip of water. Waverly had temporarily forgotten why she originally wanted to see the redhead because for the first time today her mind had been taken off the subject. 

“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. She didn’t have any dinner with her again today, she said that her mum was still asleep this morning as she was leaving for school. Thankfully, last night I planned ahead and made her something. I’ve added it to my report but it’s breaking my heart, Nicole. I can’t stand to see one of my students going through this and you’re the only person I can talk to about it.” Waverly could feel tears starting to sting her eyes, she tried to force them back into her body, but it was no use, they were already dripping down her cheeks. 

“Oh waves” Nicole scootched closer to the brunette and allowed her to drop her head onto her shoulder. Nicole took this as a sign that it would be okay to wrap her arms around her. They had never had contact like this before and it felt different but natural. “It’s totally normal to feel this way, it shows you care about the children, but you can’t let it defeat you. We have to be strong, and we have to do everything in our power to help her okay? Tomorrow I’m going to spend the day on patrol, see if I can find out what Daisy’s parents are up to. Will that ease your mind a little bit?”

Waverly nodded her head on Nicole’s shoulder and Nicole brushed her hand over the silky brunette curls. With this Waverly lifted her head off of the Sheriff and looked at her with utter satisfaction, like her words had made everything feel better. Nicole had a very soothing presence. She used her thumb to casually wipe the tears from Waverly’s face. “Everything is going to be alright, I promise”. The redhead then brought Waverly’s head back down to her shoulder, with no other words needing to be said. 

It had started to get late, and Waverly had suddenly become overcome with exhaustion, the crying not making matters easier. With Nicole giving Waverly the affection and comfort she so very much desired, Waverly’s eyes were drawing heavier and heavier. 

Nicole noticed that Waverly’s body had gone limp and looked down to see the brunette’s eyes shut tight. ‘Damn, how can this girl still look cute after crying and falling asleep on me?’ the Sheriff thought to herself. She didn’t want to wake the girl that was now lightly snoring, so decided she was going to have to stick it out until Waverly awoke. 

It had been a busy night at Shorty’s, with it being karaoke night and Wynonna was glad to be getting away from the poor excuse of ‘talent’ Purgatory had to offer. She had heard enough Dolly Parton to last a lifetime. 

Nicole suddenly woke up and realised she must have drifted off not long after Waverly had. But the movements she made also caused the brunette to wake from her slumber.  
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. I must have fallen asleep straight after you” the redhead said. 

Waverly then noticed that her head had moved from Nicole’s shoulder to her chest and she immediately jolted herself into a sitting position. “Oh my god, I fell asleep on you! I’m so sorry!” Waverly felt the need to incessantly apologise, like what she had done was a crime. She could feel her cheeks burning up at the realisation that they had just fallen asleep together, and this was not making how she had recently been feeling about the woman any easier. 

“Hey, don’t apologise. It’s fine. I’m here for you, Waves” Nicole gave Waverly her signature dimpled smile that Waverly had grown ever so fond of. “Are you feeling any better?” the Sheriff asked the Earp girl, as she brushed a piece of hair behind her ear. 

“Uh huh. I don’t know how to thank you, Nicole. You’ve been great with all this” Waverly moved her hand in a circular motion to connote how much the Sheriff had done for her.  
Both women, not knowing what to say next, stared at each other longingly. Waverly had never been in a situation like this with a woman before, and she didn’t know if the signals were there, but the moment just felt right. She proceeded to move her face closer to the redheads, and there were no signs on her end of Nicole pulling away. She perched her hand on the Sheriffs thigh and closed her eyes, there noses making contact. Waverly was mere millimetres away from Nicole’s lips. 

Just then, Wynonna shouts as she is heading for living room “HEY SIS YOU KNOW YOU LEFT THE FIRE O-, OHHHHH”

Nicole and Waverly jumped apart from each other faster than Wynonna could say ‘beer’. The older sister immediately covered her eyes.

“Yeah, so I better get going. I’ll speak to you later okay?” Nicole said pretending that she hadn’t just endured the most embarrassing moment ever. She picked up her work jacket and aimed for the door. 

Waverly remained still on the sofa, not knowing where to go from here. 

“Soooo, you wanna tell me what that was all about?” Wynonna asked in shock.

The youngest Earp sighed and slammed her head into her hands. 

“UGH, I’m such an idiot!”


	6. On Patrol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nicole goes to Shorty's and learns some new information.

“Dude, was I about to witness you kissing the SHERIFF?” Wynonna said with her eyes wide as she put an emphasis on the job title.

“Probably yeah, but then you interrupted us and I can’t decide whether that was a good thing or not” Waverly replied with a confused tone, not looking at her sister, almost as if she was alone.

“I mean I’m sorry, but I didn’t exactly know you two were gonna be here, in that position no less” she looked over at the younger Earp, trying to figure out what was going on inside that smart brain of hers. “What’cha thinking babygirl?” She propped herself down next to Waverly on the sofa.

Waverly shook herself out of her thoughts to answer Wynonna. “I think I like her Wynonna”

“Well duh, that much is obvious, I just saw you two about to play tongue tennis” Wynonna’s way of coping with any form of deep conversation was to make a joke.

“Can you just be serious for a second? I’m trying to tell you something that’s very new and strange for me and I don’t really know what to do and all you do is make sex jokes, which really isn’t helping!”

Wynonna held her hands up in defence “Okay look, you want my honest opinion? You’ve been spending quite a bit of time together and seem to be enjoying her company. It doesn’t matter that she’s a woman, if you like her then go for it, provided she likes you back of course, which I’m pretty sure she does” Wynonna winked at her younger sister, who gave a shy smile in return “I got your back kid, no matter what happens, us Earp’s stick together”.

“Thanks sis, that means a lot. I’ll speak to Nicole tomorrow” both girls hugged, this was quite a big step in their sisterhood. They might not always see eye to eye or particularly have these connections, but they were always there for the other and that had its own significance for both of them. “I’m gonna head to bed now, early start again tomorrow. Thanks for the chat” Waverly flashed the older Earp a smile, which showed her she was being sincere.

The next day at Purgatory Junior, Waverly ensured that speaking to the chefs at the canteen would be her priority before class started. She made her way towards the kitchen where the head cook Mercedes was chopping vegetables. Luckily the school wasn’t very big and everyone knew everyone in this town, plus Mercedes happened to know Waverly’s older sister because they went to school together so she knew she could ask for a favour.

“Hey Waverly, don’t tell me, you’ve reverted back to eating meat and you want me to make you a tasty dinner?”

“No, I’m still a vegan Mercedes, that’s not changing anytime soon I’m afraid”

“Damn! Then what are you doing in my kitchen?” Mercedes squinted her eyes and folded her arms in suspicion.

“I’ve actually come to ask a favour, I wondered if you could make a little something for a student in my class, Daisy Hardy?”

“Oh yeah, I know her. She’s been sitting in the canteen with no food, which is a bit odd”

“Yeah, I’ve spoken with Mrs Anderson and she’s okay’d it, so could you do that for me pleaaase?” Waverly put her hands together in prayer.

“Sure, I’ve got you Earp, no problemoooo” Waverly could see why her sister and Mercedes had got on at school, they both had this sass to their personality, and it was annoyingly humorous.

“Thank you, Mercedes, I appreciate it. Catch you later!” Waverly ran out of the kitchen as she knew the bell for first period was going to ring any minute and she didn’t want to be late.

Nicole had promised Waverly that she would try and get some more information on Daisy’s parents and today she just so happened to be on patrol, which made a change from sitting in the office and gave her an opportunity to see what went on during the day in Purgatory.

The Sheriff thought that Shorty’s would be a good place to start considering half of the town’s population resided there on a daily basis.

On the drive there, Nicole thought back to last night and how her and Waverly had almost had a romantic encounter. She was glad that the brunette had made the first move, because although Nicole had had plenty of experience with women, she didn’t want to do anything that would make the younger girl uncomfortable, so this solidified that her feelings weren’t one-sided. However, she now wondered if Wynonna interrupting them had made things awkward between the two. Did Waverly try to kiss her because she was receiving support and it was in the heat of the moment? She really hoped this hadn’t ruined the friendship they had built over the past week. Nicole was getting in her head creating these silly scenarios and she needed to focus on the task at hand…

Nicole entered Shorty’s not long after 2pm and Wynonna had just started her shift. The older Earp stood behind the bar, cloth over her shoulder in true bartender style, conversing with some locals when she noticed the Sheriff walking over to the bar.

“S’up Haught-stuff, I hope you aren’t trying to drink on the job?”

“You mean like you do?” Nicole quickly retorted, cocking her head to the side as she sat at a stool opposite Wynonna.

“Okay, that was fair. You want a cappuccino? No alcohol involved, of course”

“That would be great, thanks”

Wynonna pressed a button on the coffee machine which produced a stream of the caffeinated drink, whilst steaming some milk. “Caught any baddies today?” Wynonna asked, for some reason she liked teasing the Sheriff.

“Not yet, but I can make you the first if you carry on” Nicole didn’t know why Wynonna even tried to be smart with her, when she could give it back as much as she could take it. “I’m out on patrol today and thought Shorty’s would be the perfect establishment to scope out some potential goings on”

Wynonna handed a mug of frothy coffee over to the redhead, “Are you trying to say my place of work is a haven for criminal activity?”

“Yes, Wynonna that is exactly what I’m saying. 9 out of 10 reports we get at the station are about fights that happen here. Granted, most of them aren’t at 2pm but it certainly is a hotspot for crime” Nicole took a sip of her drink, glad she could shut the older Earp up.

“Well, I hate to tell you red, I don’t think you’re gonna find anything interesting here on a Friday afternoon, maybe come back later or go look somewhere else, like the trailer park”

Nicole took a look around at the patrons vacating Shorty’s, most of them she recognised already. There was a couple sat at a table in the corner that she was unfamiliar with though.

“Hey Wynonna, who’s that sat over that?” the Sheriff nodded her head in the direction of the couple.

“Oh, that’s Steph and her scumbag boyfriend Champ Hardy” Wynonna made a fake gagging sound after uttering his name.

“And you don’t sound too fond of them because?”

“Champ dated Waverly before Steph, he treated her like trash and stomped on her heart and for that I will forever dislike that stupid man-child”

“Okay, he sounds like a total loser and not worthy of Waverly’s time or affection. What happened between them?” This topic had somehow peaked the Sheriff’s interest now that Waverly was involved.

“Him and Waverly had been together since she was 15 and he’d been an absolute douchebag during the entire relationship, he took up all of her free time and was holding her back and Waverly knew all of this but was so blindsided by his ‘love’ that she stayed with him. Few years later there was some lame house party that they went to and she caught him hooking up with blondie over there, so she FINALLY broke up with him, 9 months later Steph pushed out his child.” Wynonna rolled her eyes as she looked over at them, both with a beer in their hand. “I’m not a religious gal but thank Christ Waverly came to her senses”

Suddenly Nicole was piecing together the information she had received from Wynonna just moments ago. The surname Hardy, she was sure that was the surname of the child Waverly taught and Wynonna said that the couple had had a child together. What were the chances of the child being Daisy?

Nicole realised she’d been so lost in thought and Wynonna was looking at her like she was some kind of freak for not responding. “Wow, he sounds like a real jackass! How did he not see what he had right in front of him? Waverly is like, **beautiful**. But then again, I’m glad that ended! How long ago was it that they broke up?”

“Beautiful huh? I’ll tell her you said that! Well, I’m pretty sure Champ was a couple years above Waverly so that would have been about 7 years ago now.”

This was all starting to add up for the Sheriff and she needed to get more information without having to ask too many questions to the frustratingly sarcastic Earp behind the bar “Yeah, I wouldn’t expect anything less from you Wynonna. I’ve been here less than a month and I know your ways so well already. One last question, are they in here often?”

“Most days, yeah. If you haven’t noticed there’s not a hell of a lot to do around here and I obviously want as many tips as possible so the busier the better” Wynonna said tapping the tip jar, hinting at Nicole to place some money in there.

“Well, thanks for the coffee. I better be heading out now, do some actual work. God knows someone around here has to.” Nicole pulled out a 5-dollar bill and slotted it into the jar.

“Yeah, good one Sheriff, protect and serve am I right?!”

The redhead decided it was best to ignore that comment, she’d received enough back talk from Wynonna for one day.

As the Sheriff made her way back to the squad car, she felt very concerned that the parents of a child Waverly was already worried about were at a bar drinking at 2 in the afternoon and it was apparently a regular occurrence. It was becoming evident where their priorities lied.

Nicole pulled into the station and entered her office thankfully with no disruptions from her colleagues. Nicole searched Champ’s name into the database, firstly to see if he’d had any previous convictions, which came up short and secondly to find his address. She was going to make a house call this weekend. She also made a mental note to inform Waverly of what she had witnessed in Shorty’s today. It was important they kept communication between this case constant.

The Sheriff kept herself busy with other cases over the next few hours. When she looked at the digital clock on her desk it was almost 6pm. Waverly would be away from work by now and thought it would be a good time to call her.

The phone rang a handful of times before Waverly eventually picked up.

“Hi Nicole”

“Hey Waves, are you free to come down to the station, there’s a few things I wanna go over with you.” She had wanted to discuss last night with the brunette, but the Daisy case was the main importance.

“Uh, sure. I’ll be there shortly” Nicole’s tone was quite blunt, and this worried the youngest Earp, was Nicole having second thoughts about what happened or should she say almost happened last night. 

On the drive to the station, Waverly thought about all the potential things the Sheriff could have to say to her, all of them being negative. But then she recalled the conversation she had with Wynonna last night

_‘It doesn’t matter that she’s a woman, if you like her then go for it, provided she likes you back of course, which I’m pretty sure she does’_

That was enough to convince Waverly that whatever she was feeling for the redhead, she’d gotten enough flirtatious hints to believe the feelings were mutual.

The carpark was looking pretty empty when Waverly arrived and when she walked through the station the entire building was eerily quiet. She reached the main desk when she spotted Nicole in her office.

“Hey where is everyone?” Waverly looked around mysteriously

“Oh, Dolls is on his break and I relieved Lonnie for the day, that man is basically useless anyways, I really need to find a replacement” Nicole replied as she shoved a bunch of paperwork into the drawer under her desk.

“Okay good” Waverly dropped her bag to the floor, took off her coat and shut the office door. “Before you say whatever it is you have to say, I just need to do this” Waverly rushed over to the other side of the desk where the redhead was stood and placed both hands on either side of the Sheriff’s head, she inhaled sharply before planting a kiss on Nicole’s lips.

Nicole didn’t even have time to respond to the kiss before Waverly pulled away, both women stood there in a state of shock. Waverly’s heart was pounding, and she drew a heavy sigh, like a weight had been lifted off of her chest. Nicole’s mouth was hanging open like she was waiting for an explanation.

“I’m sorry if that was totally inappropriate or not what you wanted, I’ve been replaying last night in my head almost all day and yeah, as you can see, I’m not very good at this.” Waverly was now stood awkwardly, with her hands by her side, wanting to run to the nearest exit.

“I’m just sorry you pulled away so fast” Nicole took a step closer to Waverly, grabbed her by the hand and pulled her body into her own. Nicole used her index finger to lift Waverly’s chin so that she was looking directly into the redhead’s eyes, the lust she noticed on her face last night was still there. The Sheriff then swiped her thumb across the brunette’s bottom lip before replacing her thumb with her own lips. This time the kiss lasted longer and both women were able to feel the spark they were hoping for.

One of Waverly’s hands once again landed on Nicole’s face and the other wrapped around the back of her neck, tangling into her red curls whilst Nicole’s hands were on the smaller girls waist, the kiss turning more heated. Waverly swiped her tongue over Nicole’s top lip asking for entrance, which Nicole granted her. Their tongues fought for dominance, but Nicole ultimately had the upper hand, sucking on the younger girls tongue before pulling on her bottom lip with her teeth and then letting it go with a pop.

The kiss ended but both women rested their foreheads together, heavy breathing. Nicole slightly chuckled, “Wow, waves. You said you weren’t good at this, but I think that was a lie.”

Waverly pulled her face away from Nicole’s “Really? It’s been a long time for me” this whole thing terrified her like crazy, but this was the right amount of validation the brunette needed.

“Yeah, well I couldn’t tell” Nicole threw Waverly a smirk.

Waverly had lost count of the amount of times Nicole had made her blush, but she wasn’t complaining. “You certainly know what you’re doing so that definitely helped, plus I like you”

“I like you too”

Both girls smiled at each other, glad that it was finally out in the open.

Waverly took a seat on the sofa and patted the spot next to her gesturing for Nicole to join her, “Well now that we got that out of the way, what did you want to speak to me about?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments and kudos. I'm blown away by the amount of support I've received in such a short amount of time, but it's much appreciated!


	7. How do you two know each other?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waverly and Nicole discuss the daisy case, Nicole makes a house call and the group go for drinks at Shorty's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this has taken me a while to update, but this is a longer chapter than i'm used to and there's LOTS going on in this one.  
> Thank you for all the hits and kudos!

Nicole pulled out the casefile she had created on Daisy from her desk drawer and joined Waverly on the sofa.

“It’s about Daisy”

“What about her? What happened Nicole?” Waverly replied frantically.

“Nothing Waves, nothing has happened I promise!” Nicole said quickly to try and calm the youngest Earp. “I just made a bit of a discovery today is all”.

“Okaaaay” Waverly said in a nervous tone, although Nicole had reassured her that nothing bad had happened, she wasn’t 100% convinced.

“So, this afternoon, I went on patrol, see if I could scope out anything suspicious on Daisy’s parents…I thought Shorty’s would be a good place to start, you know it’s a popular place and I got talking to Wynonna.”

As soon as Wynonna’s name was mentioned, Waverly grew even more nervous. Her sister was bound to have said something to the Sheriff that was completely overexaggerated or degrading. “Oh god, what did she say to you? Because I have to admit, I did tell Wynonna that I like you and she’s definitely going to use that to her advantage, just prewarning you!”

“Oh, don’t worry cutie, firstly Wynonna doesn’t scare me, secondly no matter what she would say to try and embarrass you, I have my own opinion on you and finally, you just proved how much you like me with that kiss soooo” the Sheriff raised her eyebrow and flashed Waverly a dimpled smirk. “However, she did tell me some interesting information about a certain Champ Hardy and his past…” she ended there to see if Waverly would open up about her previous relationship with Champ.

“Mhmmm” Waverly narrowed her eyes together “What did she say exactly?”

“She said that you guys dated in high school?” this was more of a rhetorical question as Nicole already knew the answer. Wynonna was a lot of things but one thing she wasn’t was a liar.

“We did, but I don’t really see how that’s relevant to this case?” Waverly started to become defensive, she couldn’t believe her sister would tell Nicole about that, it wasn’t her place.

Nicole noticed the defensive body language and understood that Waverly was probably just protecting herself. “I just need to know all the facts Waves, why didn’t you tell me?” Nicole said this delicately as she didn’t want to make it worse, but she had to get Waverly to talk if any of this was going to work.

“It’s a time in my life I like to try and forget in all honesty Nicole. Champ was my first relationship and the first person that loved me or claimed to anyway. He broke my heart when he cheated on me with Steph, I’m assuming she wasn’t the first either, but I guess that’s what happens when you don’t put out to your boyfriend”

“Hey, it’s not your fault he did what he did. If he really cared about you, he would have waited for you to be ready. But I’m gonna tell you exactly what I told Wynonna, he clearly did not see what he had in front of him and I’m glad you finally ended things with him”

Waverly’s face changed from mildly angry to a cute little puppy after hearing those words “Me too, because if I didn’t, I might not have been able to do this” the brunette planted a quick kiss on Nicole’s lips. Kissing the redhead still made her nervous, but this was the first time she had actually enjoyed the intimate act with anyone before.

Nicole slightly giggled at how adorable Waverly was. “Okay, I enjoyed that, but let’s focus on the task at hand here. So, you obviously know that Champ and Steph are Daisy’s parents. Well, they were there in Shorty’s this afternoon, day drinking while you were teaching their daughter.”

“Well, that would maybe explain why Daisy is left with no dinner money in a morning, because they’re both still in bed with a hangover” Waverly rolled her eyes, she wasn’t even surprised by this behaviour from the couple. “What do we do now?”

“Okay, I’ve logged what I saw in the case file, and I’ve informed you, so I’ll have to add that in there. I found their address on the database so I’m gonna head over to their house tomorrow and see if I can have a word with them”.

“Please be careful Nicole” Waverly placed her hand on the Sheriff’s thigh and squeezed.

“I always am, don’t worry baby. I get off early tomorrow, do you fancy going to Shorty’s for drinks? I can ask Doll’s if he’d like to join us, take your mind off of all this?” Nicole put her hand on top of Waverly’s and lifted it up to her mouth where she placed a light peck.

“I’d really like that, Wynonna will be working so I can ask Doc to join too and my friend Jeremy” Waverly was now perking up, having something to plan always kept her mind occupied.

“Doc?” Nicole asked in confusion

“Oh, that’s Wynonna’s boyfriend. He’s certainly a character, I think you’ll like him. But wait, they don’t know about…” Waverly didn’t know how to define what her and Nicole were, all they’d done was make out and confess they liked one another, and she didn’t know what that meant exactly. “you know, this” she pointed her finger between her body and Nicole’s.

“Waves, I don’t mind, unless you do? Let’s just be ourselves and be casual and see what happens, no pressure. How does that sound?”

Waverly wondered if this gorgeous woman sitting in front of her could get anymore perfect.

“That sounds great. It’s just I haven’t done this for a LONG time and definitely not with a woman and I don’t really know how people will react. This isn’t exactly a progressive town”

“That’s okay, I’m not going to do anything you don’t want me to in front of others, until you feel comfortable with it that is” Nicole gave the brunette a genuine smile to let her know she wasn’t going to rush her into anything crazy, this was new and scary for her too and she wanted to do it right.

“Thank you. I really appreciate you respecting my feelings, you’re amazing! I’m gonna go back to the homestead now because Wynonna should be finishing her shift soon and she’ll no doubt want feeding like the child she is!” Waverly once again put her lips against the Sheriff’s. What was meant to be a light kiss, lingered there for longer than both of them expected. For the third time that night, Waverly pulled away feeling dizzy. ‘I could definitely get used to this’ she thought to herself. “Night Nicole!”

The next day, Waverly woke up feeling more refreshed than she had in a while, she didn’t know if this was because she had something to look forward to with friends tonight or because she had revealed her feelings to Nicole and it turned out she felt the same, either way she wasn’t complaining.

The youngest Earp didn’t have too much time to reflect on her sudden happiness as she had a lot of preparing to do for tonight, she needed to get in touch with Doc and Jeremy, she also wanted to ensure she had enough time to look good for Nicole. This was the first time they were going out with other people, and she wanted to make a good impression on the redhead.

Waverly quickly showered, got dressed and grabbed something to eat before heading out to Deja Brew, the best coffee shop in Purgatory, where Jeremy worked. She decided to see him in person instead of texting him as it had been quite a while since they had caught up and she missed her fellow nerd.

The bell on the front door chimed as the brunette entered the building and the aroma of coffee hit her nostrils almost immediately. She saw Jeremy rushing around behind the counter, looking slightly stressed out. It was a Saturday, so it was normal for Deja Brew to be busy. Jeremy noticed Waverly fourth in the queue and gave her an excited wave and a toothy smile. Waverly reciprocated the smile and stuck one hand in the air to say hi back.

Waverly finally reached the front of the queue when Jeremy blurted out rather a little loudly “WAAAAVES, what are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to see my favourite barista of course!”

The compliment only added to Jeremy’s over enthusiasm “I’m your favourite?!” he asked with a shit eating grin on his face.

“Well, I don’t know anyone else that works here, plus you are my best friend, silly!” Waverly gave the barista a light punch on the arm as a gesture of good faith.

Jeremy nervously chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck with his palm “HA, you make a good point! Latte with oat milk, right? It’s on the house”

“Aw thank you Jeremy, that’s really sweet! I actually wanted to ask you if you’re free tonight, me, Doc, Dolls and Nicole are going for drinks at Shorty’s if you wanna join us?”

Jeremy already knew Doc because of his relationship with his best friends’ sister and Dolls had been a deputy in Purgatory for a few years now, but he’d never heard of a Nicole before.

“Who’s Nicole?” he asked, racking his brain to think if he’d heard that name before.

“She’s erm, a new friend of mine and also the new Sheriff since Nedley retired.” Waverly replied, trying to find the best explanation as to how she knows the redhead without sounding too inconspicuous.

“Oh, awesome! Can’t wait to meet her. Text me the deets. Here you go!” Jeremy handed the brunette a takeout cup of steaming coffee.

“You’re the best, see you later alligator!” Waverly started skipping towards the exit.

“In a while, croc-, nope Jeremy not cool!” he disciplined himself as he swiftly turned on his heel to clean down the coffee machine.

It had just gone midday and Nicole had buried her head in a pile of paperwork all morning and she needed a break from her office when she felt her phone buzz in her trouser pocket.

 **Waverly 12:35-** Hey you! Jeremy is joining us tonight, just need to ask Doc but that won’t be hard considering alcohol is involved, he is Wynonna’s boyfriend after all! Have you made the house call yet? X

 **Nicole 12:37-** Good afternoon beautiful. Great news, looking forward to it! Not yet, I’m about to head down there now. See you later ;) x

Thankfully, Waverly reminded Nicole about the visit to the Hardy household, which right now would be a welcome distraction from all this desk work. The Sheriff left her office to find Dolls coming out of the break room with a burger in hand, “I’m just popping out for an hour, can you man the phones for me please deputy?” Nicole was a fair but firm boss, but she knew how tedious answering the phones could be, with Purgatory being a pretty boring town, many of its residents found amusement out of prank calling the station. “I’ll buy you a beer tonight as a thank you” she patted Dolls on the back before even letting him answer. Dolls just responded with a salute and a sarcastic smile.

Nicole got in the police cruiser and headed in the direction of Champ and Steph’s house on the outskirts of the town. Considering it was the weekend, activity surrounding the house seemed to be suspiciously quiet, she wondered if the family had gone out for the day. The Sheriff took a peek through the windows but found no sign of life, only piles of mess and toys strewn on the floor, she then made her way around the back to look inside the kitchen where she saw copious bottles of alcohol on the countertop. Nicole had already seen them drinking in Shorty’s the previous day and now this, she was beginning to question whether Daisy’s parents had a serious problem.

Upon what she had seen in the kitchen, Nicole thought there would be no harm in knocking on the door, just to see if anyone was in that she could speak to. After what felt like consistent bangs on the door, Nicole finally heard footsteps coming from the second floor of the house moving towards the stairs. When she looked through the window of the door, she saw what looked to be a mini version of Champ and Steph making her way to the entrance.

Daisy opened the front door to find a rather tall cop standing opposite her. “Hello”

“Hi sweetie, I’m Sheriff Haught, remember me from school the other day? Your name is Daisy right?” Nicole gave Daisy a sweet smile and kept her demeanour positive.

“Yes, I remember you. Why are you at my house, did I do something wrong at school?” the young girl replied so innocently.

Nicole lightly chuckled at this remark. “No of course you didn’t. I was actually hoping to speak to your parents, are they in?”

“No, they’re not here”

“They’ve left you at home on your own?” Nicole asked, becoming more concerned.

“Yeah, but it’s okay because I have my dolls and other toys to play with” Daisy spoke like this wasn’t out of ordinary for her.

“Would I be allowed to come in? maybe you can show me these dolls” Nicole asked politely.

The prospect of having someone interested in her toys excited Daisy and she nodded her head enthusiastically at the Sheriff’s request.

As Nicole made her way further into the house, she looked around with intrigue, like she was viewing the property as a potential buyer. “Did your parents say where they were going Daisy?”

“Nope” Daisy grabbed hold of the Sheriff’s forearm and dragged into the living room “Come on, I want to show you my dolls house” Nicole had no choice but to allow the young girl to pull her in the direction of her collectables. She knew she had to approach this delicately and gain Daisy’s trust in order to help her.

The Sheriff spent the next 20 minutes asking Daisy questions about her dolls house and roleplaying with the miniature people she had inside it. Nicole felt that within that time frame she had formed a bond with Waverly’s student and now she thought she truly understood the pain Waverly had been feeling when she had explained the situation to the redhead.

For Daisy this felt like the first time in a long time that somebody had actually played and spent time with her and listened to her when she spoke.

Just as Daisy was neatly placing her dolls back in their specific places within the dolls house, both her and Nicole heard the front door open. Nicole shot up from her cross-legged position and awaited the presence of Daisy’s parents.

Champ entered the living room and as soon as he spotted the signature navy blue and teal uniform shouted, “WHAT THE FUCK ARE THE COPS DOING HERE!?”

“Language sir.” Nicole tried to calm the stocky man down, “I’m Sheriff Nicole Haught, I-“

“Yeah, why the fuck are you in my house?” Champ took a step closer to the officer.

“If you didn’t interrupt me, you’d know, and I would remind you to watch your language in front of your daughter” Nicole replied, hands on her hips.

“Whatever, I can speak however I like. It’s a free country” Champ snarled.

“I came to speak to you and your partner but when I knocked, I discovered your daughter here alone. You shouldn’t be leaving your 7-year-old child at home on their own”

“She’s old enough to look after herself for a couple hours, right baby” Champ addressed Daisy, messily rubbing the hair on her head.

Daisy just shrugged in response, not really having an opinion, she’d become accustomed to this behaviour.

“Well, although its not the law, you are putting your child at serious risk here. I also see a shocking amount of alcohol has been consumed in the kitchen so I’m gonna have to report this.”

“What, no you can’t do that. We haven’t done anything wrong!”

“Consider this a warning Mr Hardy, anymore of this sort of activity and it will be taken MUCH further. I’ll be keeping a very close eye on you” Sheriff Haught said sternly. At this point, Nicole was very angry but had to keep a professional stance.

Nicole left the house feeling very uncomfortable leaving Daisy in the hands of her parents, but she was going to have to inform social services and other authorities before taking any action. She also knew that telling Waverly of this news was going to break her heart but decided that tonight was not the right time. She wanted the brunette to have a relaxing night with her friends and this information would only ruin it.

When the Sheriff got back to the station, she immediately reported what had happened at the Hardy household into her casefile. Thankfully, there was only a few more hours of her shift left, the redhead was very much looking forward to seeing Waverly’s face and having a beer in her hand.

Waverly returned to the homestead after seeing both Jeremy and Doc, the brunette thought it best to swing by Doc’s apartment to see if he was free tonight, she knew he was hopeless with technology and wouldn’t receive a reply until at least next week. Now that Doc had agreed, she had a full gang for tonight and was getting more excited at the idea of all of her friends hanging out together.

The youngest Earp proceeded to get ready, using the curling iron to get her hair to its classic ‘natural’ wave style. Then spent a good half an hour doing her make up, which normally she didn’t really put a lot of effort into, before finally changing her outfit. They were only going to Shorty’s so she wanted to wear something casual but still be able to wow the Sheriff.

After pulling out three different outfits and debating which one to choose, she opted for an off the shoulder flower print ruffle top which cut off at her bellybutton, accompanied by the tightest pair of jeans she owned, she knew her ass wasn’t the greatest, but these jeans definitely showed off her curves and hopefully that would impress the redhead.

Moments after dressing and checking herself out in the mirror multiple times to see if her ensemble looked okay, her phone started ringing and she saw Nicole’s name at the top of the screen.

“Hey Nicole. You almost ready?”

“Hi cutie, yes I was about to ask you the same thing! I’m just about to set off, I’ll be at the homestead in 10. Can’t wait to see you”

Waverly began to get flustered, she didn’t know how tonight was going to go with Nicole meeting her friends, but she knew she couldn’t wait to see the older woman again, even if it was only yesterday since they’d last been together. “Okay, I’ll be ready. See you soon”.

Nicole arrived just on time as she rasped on the door of the homestead 10 minutes later. She bounced up and down on the heels of her feet in anticipation of seeing Waverly. This was the first time they were going out in public with other people knowing how they felt for each other.

Waverly came rushing down the stairs and smoothed out her outfit before opening the front door.

“Wow Waves” Nicole said trying not to be too obvious about looking the brunette up and down. “You look incredible” she was basically looking at Waverly she was the human form of the fire emoji.

“Really? You don’t look too bad yourself Sheriff Haught.” Waverly replied with a smirk. Nicole was donning a burgundy/navy chequered flannel above a tank top, with casual jeans.

“Oh, I literally just threw this on, you’re the real knockout here!”

“Thank you, you’re so sweet! Let me just grab my coat and I’ll be ready to go”

By the time both women had got to Shorty’s, Jeremy was already there prompt as always, chatting with Doc. They noticed the brunette and redhead enter the bar and waved them over to their table.

“Hey guys!” Jeremy squealed

“Hi boys, this is Nicole.” Waverly stated with her hand resting lightly on the Sheriff’s lower back. “Nicole, this is Doc” she gestured to the moustached man, who tipped his hat down to the girls “and this is my best friend Jeremy” Jeremy lifted one hand up and gave Nicole a Cheshire cat smile.

“Thank goodness you are here; Jeremy has been jabbering about a Game of Thrones for the past 15 minutes and I simply have no idea what he is talking about.”

Both girls laughed at Doc’s inability to comprehend modern culture, he was a man of simple taste and preferred the old-timey lifestyle.

“Heeey, I thought you were listening!” Jeremy huffed in annoyance.

“You were that excited talking about whatever it was you were talking about, that I just let you continue. Would you ladies like a drink?” Doc asked so that he could escape Jeremy’s inevitable repetition of the story about his favourite fictional show.

“Yeah, I’ll take a beer please” Nicole responded

“Make that two!” Waverly shouted over her shoulder.

“So, Nicole. You’re a sheriff, that must be waaaay cool?”

Nicole chuckled at how alike Jeremy and Waverly were. He was essentially the male version of the beautiful brunette and she had a hunch they would get along well. “It has its perks yeah, don’t be fooled though, most of the time it’s just sitting around answering the phone and doing paperwork”

“Damn, that’s a bummer. Still, it beats my job! I always wanted to work in law enforcement”

“No offence Jeremy, but you would be the worst cop ever, you’re far too nice. Plus, I’m pretty sure Nicole has bigger biceps than you” Waverly retorted, highly amused at Jeremy’s confession.

“I’m gonna take that first part as a compliment, and also the bicep comment is definitely true” he said with a pout.

All three of them giggled, as Doc came back with 2 beers and whiskey in his hand. With that Dolls entered the establishment and made his way over to where his friends were sitting.

“S’up guys. I see you’ve just got a round in without me. Good job Sheriff Haught owes me a beer isn’t it” he said head titled and lips pursed.

“You weren’t going to let me forget that were you DEPUTY” the redhead reminded him who was boss, but she held her promise and headed to the bar. Nicole returned moments later, and the conversation turned to her and Waverly.

“So how do you two know each other?” Doc asked, side eyeing the pair.

Both women looked at each other before the redhead chimed in “I did a talk at Waverly’s school and we had a laugh, so we started hanging out. I definitely needed to make some friends around here, so I’m glad I’ve found one” Nicole answered with zero hesitation, as she smiled at the brunette and placed a firm hand on the girls knee. Dolls picked up on this gesture but kept it to himself.

After a couple hours of fun chat and getting to know one another better, almost all of the group were feeling the effects of the alcohol, minus Dolls who only had a few as he had to be back at the station tomorrow. Nicole and Waverly, both now rather intoxicated began to feel a little more relaxed around their friends, to the point where Waverly had been lazily drawing circles with her index finger on Nicole’s thigh for the past 5 minutes and didn’t have a care in the world.

The group were mid conversation when Wynonna disrupted the peace “Whaddup dorks! Who’s got two thumbs and has just finished their shift?” she waited for one of them to answer but instead they all sat there blankly staring at her. Wynonna rolled her eyes “THIS GUUUUUUY!” she said pointing her thumbs at herself before plonking herself down on a chair next to Doc.

“Hey darlin’, glad you could join us” Doc planted a chaste kiss on Wynonna’s cheek.

“Let’s get some shots! Ey padre, bring some tequila shots to the table!” the eldest Earp shouted to her colleague. “So, Sheriff Haught-shit. What do you think to our friends?”

“You’re all really nice and so welcoming and I think I’ve found my people, except you Wynonna, you will remain a pain my ass”

“Your ass is great by the way; wouldn’t you agree Waverly?” Wynonna declared, wiggling her eyebrows in her sister’s direction.

Nicole turned to look at Waverly to see how she would respond “How is It that you’ve had one drink and you’re already being like THIS?” Waverly argued

“Babygirl, I’m always like this, its my brand” Wynonna said proudly.

Waverly just groaned in frustration at her sister. “But yes, I have to agree, you do have a cute butt”

“You’re the cute one” Nicole counteracted.

Wynonna stuck her tongue out “Ugh, get a room… and I don’t mean the living room this time”

Jeremy, Doc and Dolls stopped what they were doing and looked around the table in absolute silence. 

“Did I hear what I thought I just heard?” Doc asked dumbfounded

“God Wynonna, you really are a dick and three quarters sometimes, you know that?” Waverly got up from her chair and ran to the bathroom.

“Nice one Wynonna!” Nicole scolded before proceeding to chase after the younger woman.

Wynonna gritted her teeth and lifted both hands in front of her face, “Oops?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just noticed I've reached 3K hits. Thank you all so much for reading and supporting this! There will be smut soon don't worry! Also, who's excited for 4B tomorrow?!?!


	8. that makes you the MOST badass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waverly goes back to Nicole's and things happen...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, apologies for taking so long to post, its been a hectic 2 weeks! Hopefully this short-ish chapter will make up for it.  
> Secondly what do you all think of the first two episodes of 4B so far?

Nicole burst through the bathroom door but then slowed in her tracks when she heard Waverly sobbing behind one of the stalls.

“Baby, it’s me” Nicole cooed “Can I come in?”

Nicole heard the latch on the lock click and Waverly slightly open the door. The younger Earp then resumed her position sitting on the lid of the toilet.

“Why does she always do this Nicole, I can never have anything for myself without her destroying it.”

Nicole bent down in front of the brunette and placed her hands on the girl’s thighs. “I’m sure she didn’t mean it, you know what she’s like, it just comes out before she even realises what she’s said”

“Yeah well, her actions have consequences, she needs to learn that! What are we supposed to do now?”

“Hey, your friends seem like pretty down to earth people, I’m sure they would just want you to be happy, no matter who it’s with”

Waverly then lifted her head up from the ground to look the Sheriff in her honey-brown eyes “You think?”

“I know. Now let’s turn that frown upside down eh? Your sister can be a problem for later” Nicole held her hands out for Waverly to take and pull her to standing. Waverly immediately nuzzled her head in Nicole’s chest for warmth and comfort, and the redhead accepted the embrace with open arms.

A few minutes went by like this when Waverly removed her head from the taller woman and said “They’re probably wondering what’s taking so long, maybe we should get back to the table?”

“Are you sure? We don’t have to if you don’t want, we can call it a night and you can crash at mine?” Nicole realised how that sounded once it came out, and she didn’t want the brunette to think this was her ploy to get them alone. “If you don’t want to be around Wynonna, I mean”

Waverly sniggered at the Sheriff and the fact she always has to explain herself “Don’t worry, I got what you meant, and I would actually really appreciate that, because I don’t think I could stand to be around Wynonna tonight. I’d probably kick her ass so hard; I might go up a shoe size”

Nicole let out a chuckle and lightly shook her head “Waverly Earp, you are amazing you know that?” she didn’t expect an answer but what she didn’t expect even more was the younger girl pushing her up against the bathroom stall and kissing her with more passion than she had before, both hands cradling the redheads face. Nicole placed one hand on Waverly’s waist and the other on her butt, which she had been looking at, respectfully of course, all night. Waverly let out a soft moan at the touch and Nicole had to pull away before it became too much.

“What’s wrong?” the brunette asked

Nicole had to take a second to compose herself before she was unable to form words. “Waves, I am very much enjoying all of this, but maybe we shouldn’t do it here”

Waverly frantically looked from side to side and remembered her surroundings and realised that a bathroom stall in Shorty’s was not the best place for things to get heated with the hot Sheriff standing in front of her. “You’re right, lets go to yours”

Nicole had never seen anyone manoeuvre a locked door so fast, Waverly grabbed the older woman’s hand and dragged her out of the bathroom almost as swiftly as quicksilver.

The group saw the two women exiting the bathroom and heading back their way. Wynonna stood up from her chair to approach her younger sister “Waverly I’m S-“

“Save it Wynonna, Nicole and I are leaving and I’m staying at hers for the night, we’ll talk about this tomorrow!” Waverly picked up her belongings and handed Nicole hers too, but then awkwardly stood there when they realised both had had far too much to drink to drive home.

Dolls observed this dilemma and offered them a ride “I’m about to leave too seeing as Haught here has me on the early shift tomorrow, thanks for that by the way” he side-eyed the Sheriff “I’ll drop you off if you like? I’ve only had 1 beer”

“You’re welcome” Nicole smirked to her colleague “and yes that would be awesome thank you.”

“Bye JerBear, Bye Doc” Waverly didn’t bother to acknowledge her sister as she hugged the two men.

“Bye guys, it was great to meet you” Nicole gave the boys a heartfelt smile.

“Likewise, Sheriff Haught” Doc once again tipped his hat to the authoritative figure.

Waverly, Nicole and Dolls left Shorty’s with a slightly uncomfortable car journey as nobody dared bring up what happened earlier.

“You have a lot of grovelling to do to sweet Waverly, I sure hope you understand that” Doc scolded his girlfriend.

“Yeah yeah, I knowwww. I’m always the bad guy” Wynonna huffed in response, downing the rest of her drink.

Nicole opened the front door of her house and held her hand out gesturing for Waverly to step inside first.

“Wow, nice place you got here!” Waverly exclaimed as she nosed around.

“Thanks, it’s nothing much, I haven’t really had time to decorate it the way I want what with work and everything”

“Well, it looks great and if you ever need help with anything in the future just let me know.” Just then Waverly heard a meowing sound she didn’t anticipate, followed by a ginger ball of fluff grazing her shins. “You have a cat?” The brunette bent down to scrub the furry animal on the head, which the cat very much appreciated.

“Oh, yup. That’s Calamity Jane”

“As in the film?”

“Yeah, I know it’s totally cliché but I’m all about the badass chicks”

“Riiiiight, what does that make me then?” Waverly asked, as she dismissed CJ and sauntered over to the redhead.

“That makes you the MOST badass”

It was like a flip had switched on Waverly’s emotions in the past half an hour, moving from hurt and angry to mischievous, “Oh yeah?” the youngest Earp said in the most seductive voice she could muster. She once again pushed the Sheriff to the wall of the lounge to resume the scenario they found themselves in earlier.

Nicole had no idea where this surge of confidence in Waverly had come from, but she most definitely isn’t going to complain as she continues to let the brunette take the lead.

Waverly took hold of Nicole’s wondering hands and pinned them above her head before closing the gap between their lips, instantly pushing her tongue into Nicole’s mouth. She would never get over how soft Nicole’s lips felt against her own. The Sheriff hated the fact that she was unable to touch Waverly but was impressed at how surprisingly strong the smaller girl was.

Nicole moaned into Waverly’s mouth, but it was more a moan of concern and Waverly noticed. She brought her lips away from the redhead and cocked her head to the side “Did I do something wrong?”

“No baby, no you didn’t do anything wrong” Nicole reassured the younger girl by tucking a piece of silky caramel coloured hair behind her ear. “Its just, are you sure you want to do this? I don’t want you to feel like you have to”.

“Nicole, I like you and I want you right now” Waverly looked up into the Sheriff’s eyes, which were now a shade of brown darker than normal. 

“I want you too, so bad. Let’s just take it slow okay. We can stop at any time if you’re not feeling it anymore” Nicole gave Waverly a light kiss on the forehead, although the act was innocent, it spoke a thousand words to the younger girl.

All the brunette could do was nod in response. Nicole continued her delicate kisses from Waverly’s forehead, down her temple, across her right cheek, one on the tip of her nose before trailing her mouth down to her neck where the kisses became rougher, needier. The redhead bit down on her pulse point on Waverly’s neck and it gained a moan unlike anything she had ever heard before, that was it, she had found a weak spot. Any worries either girl had a minute ago had completely vanished now.

Waverly spun the two girls around and started to walk them over to the sofa, all while Nicole proceeded to make her way around Waverly’s neck with her teeth and tongue. The backs of the Sheriff’s calves hit something, and she knew she’d reached the item of furniture they required, she let herself fall back onto the sofa, pulling Waverly on top of her.

The youngest of the two placed her legs on either side of the Sheriff straddling her so that she could get as much contact as possible, her hands were resting on the back of the sofa to give her the leverage she needed to grind down on the redhead. Nicole’s hands immediately went to her favourite place, Waverly’s ass. While swaying her hips in a circular motion Waverly mimicked the older woman’s previous actions by putting her lips on her neck and trailing a line of kisses down her throat until she reached the material of Nicole’s tank top.

“Can I?” Waverly asked permission to remove Nicole’s flannel and top.

“Mhmm” was all that Nicole could get out, she was far too in the moment to form words and she needed these items of clothing gone. She leaned forward to give Waverly access and the brunette didn’t waste any time.

Waverly sat on the Sheriff’s lap in amazement, she had obviously seen boobs before, she had them herself, but Nicole’s were something else.

“You okay there?” Nicole asked in amusement

“Yeah sorry, they’re just wow” Waverly’s eyes almost popped out of her head.

Nicole snaked her hands up Waverly’s waist and up to her arms where she took hold of Waverly’s hands and brought them to her chest and encouraged the younger girl to massage the area. After a few seconds of guidance, Nicole was confident that Waverly knew what she was doing and was able to sit back comfortably and enjoy the affection her body was receiving. The redhead placed her hands on Waverly’s jean clad thighs, rubbing small circles, using her thumbs to add pressure, but the brunette needed skin to skin contact.

Waverly retracted her hands from Nicole’s boobs, “Just give me one second” she winked at the Sheriff who was heavy breathing in front of her. Waverly removed herself from Nicole’s lap and started to unbutton her jeans, Nicole saw what the younger girl was doing and decided to do the same.

Once Nicole was only in her underwear, she sat back down in her previous position and commanded to Waverly “That needs to go too” she nodded towards the brunette’s shirt. The way she ordered instead of asked was a huge turn on for Waverly, one the Earp girl didn’t know she had before now. Waverly swiftly pulled the item of clothing over her head and thew it to the other side of the room before basically pouncing back onto the redhead.

Their lips immediately crashed together, moaning into one another’s mouths. Waverly’s hands were on Nicole’s cheeks while Nicole’s hands were gripping Waverly’s ass pulling the younger girl into her. With Nicole’s thigh perfectly placed in-between Waverly’s folds, the brunette was now getting the contact she so well needed. Waverly proceeded to grind on the redhead’s strong muscle as the pressure started to build in Waverly’s core.

Waverly pulled out from the heated kiss to assess the situation “Is this okay?”

“Mmm this is more than okay baby”

Hearing that affirmation only spurred Waverly on more as she ground fast into Nicole, “Fuckkkk” the younger girl exclaimed. Nicole drove her thigh harder onto the brunette and Waverly had to gain more control by grabbing hold of the Sheriff’s shoulders, which helped her gyrate better. Nicole’s hands moved from Waverly’s ass to her shoulder blades as she scratched her way down her toned back. Nicole repeated this process a handful of times, which garnered a string of moans from Waverly. All of a sudden it was like a bolt of electricity had shot through Waverly’s entire body, making her jolt backwards, back arched, eyes squeezed closed and fingernails digging into Nicole’s skin. Nicole was experienced and knew the tell-tale signs of an orgasm and this was definitely it. All the Sheriff could do was continue to grind her thigh into the younger girl to help her ride out her high and grip onto her waist tightly until Waverly came back down to earth.

When the brunette eventually opened her eyes, she became aware of her surroundings and noticed Nicole looking at her with pure lust. Waverly began to turn bright red at the fact she had just cum from basically moving on Nicole’s leg. The brunette covered her face with her hands “Oh my god, I can’t believe that just happened. How embarrassing”.

Nicole removed Waverly’s hands from her face and brought them to her mouth, where she delicately kissed each finger. “Baby, please don’t be embarrassed. That was super hot, like WOW!”

Waverly gave the redhead a shy smile, that comment making her feel slightly better about the situation. “But we didn’t even really do anything, and you didn’t –“

Nicole interrupted Waverly before she could finish her sentence because she knew exactly where she was going with it “Waves, it doesn’t matter. This was about you and your needs. I can wait. And as for not doing anything, that wasn’t nothing trust me.”

Waverly leaned forward to rest her head on Nicole’s shoulder, this woman was so understanding and respectful and she had never experienced anything like it before. The men she had been with before were so selfish and never cared about what Waverly wanted, but this was completely different.

As Nicole cradled Waverly in her arms in her post orgasm bliss, Waverly whispered in the redhead’s ear “Could we maybe try this again, properly this time?”

Nicole pulled back and looked deep into the brunettes eyes to see if there was any hint of reluctance in what she said, but there wasn’t. “Lets go!” Nicole picked Waverly up off of her lap and carried her with ease up the stairs…


End file.
